Here's a trailer for Black Sunrise, 1m30 long, so you've no excuse about not having time to watch it. =:) Be warned, it is dark in tone, and includes a former bunny - but you may be intrigued all the same. It's for an ongoing project by one person, Nick Cross, whose work you may have seen in Yellow Cake before. When finished, it'll be a full feature-length production; currently, some ten minutes are complete.

BTW, sorry about the gap in postings. I'll be good. ^_^ I'd prefer to keep future entries a little shorter than this, unless there's something more involved to discuss or relate. I'll post this in its entirety, though, else I know I'll just keep adding to it until it's triple the length.

Wastelander Panda Prologue is a trailer for a live action TV series Epic Films of Australia are intending to produce, featuring an anthro giant panda, the last surviving, in a post-apocalyptic wasteland. If this is a meaningful representation of the quality they're aiming to produce, it'll be well worth waiting for.

Here's an app with quite a bit to bring to the iOS music scene: Auria, from WaveMachine, the folks who brought you Drumagog. It pushes the iPad as DAW further still, offering playback of 48 simultaneous tracks on an iPad 2, or a mere 24 on the original, and aims to forge the development of VST on iOS, for open-ended plugin fun.

I'm pleased to see the Royal Canadian Mint's celebratory coins do indeed feature lapinity. ^_^ Only just, but we're there, as one of the mobile's decorations. Australia's currency is quite furry indeed, whilst the UK's merely has some appearance by those traditional British natives, lions and unicorns.

To be boringly mundane for a moment, might anyone have recommendations for UK home contents insurance? The main criteria: must include coverage of possessions while travelling, not just at home; that coverage should be worldwide; single item limit of at least £2500, total at least £5000. The bank's offering seems fairly decent, meeting those for £18.88/mo. I've never yet had to claim on a policy, other than as a result of last winter's flight debacle, but if something happened to my bag when fully laden, I'd rather be able to claim than have to shell out for everything again.

ZOMG! I've found somewhere with those boots in stock! Now to hope they don't sell out before Wednesday. ^_^; (It happens - the place I was originally looking at, back before NYE, sold out in the few days I spent pondering whether to go for them or not) Even with international shipping, helpfully at no extra cost, they'll wind up only slightly more expensive than if the local outlet could have obtained them. And lo - the order was placed. ~happy bunny~ Oddly, the import deposit was much higher than I'd anticipated, but with a -20% promo, it worked out the same regardless. ^_^ They estimate delivery betweem Friday and Tuesday. (I've noticed this in a few places lately - it can be faster to have something delivered around the planet, than within the same country, whether the US or UK. Go figure!) .. and they fit. Beautifully. I may never take these off again. ^_^

If you've got an iPad, I'd recommend trying out the free sample chapter of E.O.Wilson's Life on Earth. It does indeed look fantastic, with useful animations and video clips that genuinely make for a better understanding of the material presented. And on the game front, the new platformer Paper Monsters is a real delight. And Pizza vs Skeletons looks like it's not taking itself too seriously. =:)

Short of the Day: No Robots, a student project from SJSU, about five minutes long. It's a time of autonomous robots, and with it, robot crime, and human suspicion, from the perspective of a café owner.

If you've ever wanted your net connection to appear to be from the UK or US, TunnelBear looks like being an exceptionally easy VPN offering, presenting a simple UI. Rates seem reasonable: free gets you 500MB/mo (with a bonus 1GB if you ask them on Twitter), whilst subscribing runs to $5/mo, or $50/yr, for unlimited data, plus encryption.

This does surprise me, though I suppose it's inevitable, given what a low priority funny animation's become for Warner Brothers, coupled with reluctant marketing only surpassed by Hasbro: 1 in 3 Americans doesn't recognise Bugs Bunny. (And Daffy fares worse still, 44% not knowing who he is) The article also notes that there's apparently a Pepe Le Pew project underway, with the titular star voiced by Mike Myers.

A look at Princess Celestia, from someone who bought one of the toys (being unable to find Twilight Sparkle), only to find her nature somewhat different to the wise counselor portrayed in MLP:FiM. Instead: "I love when you comb my hair!" "My barrettes look so pretty!" (..and as her son pointed out, the toy is bright pink, when she's white. Would Hasbro arbitrarily change a Transformer's colors, I wonder?) The show's creator, Lauren Faust, notes that Hasbro did indeed insist on various changes, such as shifting her from a queen to a princess, on the basis that queens are seen as evil figures, by way of Disney. "She does not have parents that outrank her. I brought the weirdness of that situation to my bosses, but it did not seem to be a continuity concern to them, so I’m letting it alone. I always wanted her to be the highest authority, and so she remains so. And I certainly don't want marriage to be what would escalate her. (Bad messages to girls and what not.)"

Another new iOS/OS X platformer with a mild twist is Jazz: Trump's Journey, loosely themed around the progression of Louis Armstrong's musical career. =:D

So, it did indeed come about: Kodak goes for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. Whilst that's not necessarily the end of a company, the phrasing used by the CEO in explaining "Chapter 11 gives us the best opportunities to maximize the value in two critical parts of our technology portfolio: our digital-capture patents ... and our breakthrough printing and deposition technologies" rather hints that their actual business isn't where they're looking to make money.

Yay! The iPad case finally arrived at the correct address. Resent from Hong Kong on Wednesday, received on Tuesday. ^_^ It is indeed a gloriously hot pink, though perhaps slightly more pale than I'd hoped for. Seems well made, with even stitching, the magnetic closure applying just enough force to keep the case closed when not in use, and with a sensible degree of protective firmness in the case. And, of course, the smooth tactility one would expect of fake patent leather, with a gentle give to the padding within.

A bit of iPad geekery: Spicy Schematics, for editing electronic schematics, and applying Spice simulation to them. Available in free and paid versions, though it's not obvious what the restrictions on the former are; it's not a wildly expensive app, in any event.

One benefit of living in a studio, rather than a house, as at the last gig: little need for heating. ^_^ I do use one of the wall heaters (all electric, unfortunately, including the stove - I do like the responsivity of gas) sometimes, but even leaving it off entirely still leaves the place comfortably cool. Not that it's exactly frigid outside, I'll admit - if I mention a range of around 4-10C, atomicat is free to laugh. =:)

The guy (SFX makeup/prosthetics by profession, surprise!) really caught the RL analogue of the uncanny valley there. So realistic, yet still distinctly toony.

And nope, I've never seen an ep of their show. ^_^ I've only caught bits and pieces of it - I did enjoy the bits of King of the Hill I've seen, though. Idiocracy could've been superb, but was just played too broadly to last its length.